President Nana Akufo-Addo
About
30,000 tertiary students across Ghana have received scholarships from President
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Their
tuition fees were accordingly paid under the District Scholarship Scheme run by
the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat (GSS).
The
District Scholarship Scheme was introduced by President Akufo-Addo and was
launched in Takoradi in the Western Region in July, this year.
The
scheme is expected to drive the government’s developmental agenda by empowering
the metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) to award
scholarships to not only needy but brilliant students but also deserving ones.
Registrar
of the Ghana Scholarships Secretariat, Kingsley Agyemang, who made this known
to the media, said funding amounts of GH¢60,000,
GH¢80,000 and GH¢100,000 were made available to the MMDAs.
He
said the assemblies organised selection interviews for applicants who applied
for the fund and made recommendations for the awards. And 30,000 students from
the MMDAs, who qualified after appearing before the District Scholarship Review
Committee, were awarded the scholarships.
According
to Mr. Agyeman, the committee comprised chief executives of the assemblies as
the chairpersons, representatives from the traditional authorities and from
tertiary institutions or the Ghana Education Service in the assemblies.
He
revealed that the beneficiaries are pursuing various courses from diploma to
PhD level.
Nana Walks The Talk
He
stated that “today we have seen that Ghanaians voted for a President who ‘walks
the talk’.”
“Free
meritorious tertiary education is a possibility and it is here to stay,” he
said.
In
his view, the scheme will ensure that scholarship opportunities are distributed
nationwide to the needy but brilliant students through the MMDAs.
He
stated that the scheme would not only ensure accessibility but also
transparency.
According
to him, “In terms of transparency, the Scholarship Secretariat has and
continues to operate an open-door policy. What this decentralisation seeks to
do is to now take this open-door policy right to the doorstep of students in
their districts.” “We are making sure all the major stakeholders become part of
the process,” he added.
BY Melvin Tarlue
